Five Czech hikers and a Slovak national were killed when they were caught in an avalanche near the ski resort of Soelden in the Austrian Alps, police and rescue services said Sunday.
Police earlier said six Czechs had been buried by the snow.
The avalanche, the deadliest to have struck Austria in nine years, hit the group about 500 metres below the summit of the Schalfkogel, at 3,000 metres 9,850 feet around 4:15 pm 1415 GMT on Saturday afternoon.
Mountain rescuers were immediately alerted by witnesses but were unable to get to the scene because of the poor weather.
Rescuers made a fresh attempt by helicopter on Sunday morning and were able to recover the six bodies who were buried under one to 2.50 metres of snow, they told the Austrian news agency APA.
The hikers had set out from the mountain refuge at Hochwilderhaus for Schalfkogel, which is made up of glaciers covered with snow and where there was a heightened risk of avalanches on Saturday after fresh snowfall.
Only one member of the party, a 45-year-old man, stayed behind in the refuge. He identified the bodies of his friends for police on Sunday morning.
"It is clear that conditions were not right for a high-altitude tour on Saturday," said Soelden mayor Ernst Schoepf.
In March 2000, 12 people were killed by a massive avalanche in the central town of Niedernsill.
The previous year a total 47 people died in the Tyrol in three separate avalanches.
A five-metre avalanche devastated the resort of Galtuer in February 1999 killing 31 people. The next day another avalanche killed seven people in the neighbouring village of Valzur.
South Korean dancers perform a traditional dance during a memorial service in Seoul. AFP/Kim Jae-Hwan
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